Boston or Chicago? (college, living in, moving)

[Chianti]

Chicago blows Boston away and its not close, espicially when cost of living is taken into account.

[TomDot]

Originally Posted by Chianti

Chicago blows Boston away and its not close, espicially when cost of living is taken into account.

Don't you just love "drive-by" opinions?

[Cart24]

Originally Posted by TomDot

Don't you just love "drive-by" opinions?

The funny thing is that I recognized the name of the poster and thought back to a time I posted a response to the EXACT same "drive-by" statement. Let me cut and paste it below. "Surprisingly" Chianti didnt respond back for some strange reason, hmm.....

Post:

I would love to know what criteria you are using to compare both cities.

Could it possibly be the economy?

http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.ma_boston_mn.htm
http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.il_chicago_md.htm

I guess not since Boston outpaced Chicago is all sectors except one for economic growth in the past year.

Education:

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college

Boston and area: 9 in the top 100
Chicago and are: 2

Crime Rate:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_..._by_crime_rate

Higher Crime rate for Chicago.

Cost of Living:

http://www.citymayors.com/economics/...e_cities2.html

Mercer ranks Chicago as a more expensive city to live overall than Boston.

GDP Per Capita:

http://www.demographia.com/db-gdp-metro.pdf

Boston ranks 4th in the world
Chicago 15th

I do not know why someone would come on a board and make such a general statement without looking at the facts, but maybe next time you should look a "little" deeper.


Side Note: Chicago is a fabulous city with great culture, recreation, food and diversity. Having both Boston and Chicago as options is a really great thing.

[Cart24]

Originally Posted by Brssplr

Does one city have more of an "international" feel to it? I'm curious which one has a higher percentage of foreign-born inhabitants? One indicator of how cosmopolitan a city is, seems to include being able to go almost anywhere in the city and hear people speaking other languages.

Both cities are extremely diverse. Statistically speaking though Boston has a very slightly higher percentage of foreign born inhabitants than Chicago according to last census (2000)

Foreign-Born Population in Metropolitan Areas with 5 Million or More People, 2000 — Infoplease.com

They are very close to equal though.

[ogre]

Agreed with both of you. That post above would seem far less like a troll post if he would offer some details as a basis for his opinion.

[Brssplr]

I currently live in a city in the Midwest which tends to feel extremely stuffy, uptight, and sometimes downright hoity-toity. Not to mention that many of the people here seem to be very socially conservative. The ones who are not hoity-toity tend to regard anyone from either coast with suspicion, and anyone from another country as someone who doesn't "belong" here. That being said, the cultural offereings here are not bad, although they do not compare with Chicago, Boston or NYC, certainly.

[Brssplr]

I've heard that the South End in Boston is cool to live in. I've also heard that Cambridge is close to downtown, and has a very diverse population. Does anyone have any more information on what neighborhoods are cool? What areas in Chicago would be comparable to Cambridge and the South End?

[HowGoesIt]

Personally, I like Boston much better than Chicago. Cost of living is higher in Boston, but so are the wages. Boston is much safer, not as chilly in the winter, and cleaner than Chicago. However, if you are going for a more urban gritty feel (L-train, little more dangerous, etc) then you should definitely opt for Chicago.

[HisDaughter]

I live outside of Boston now. I HATE Boston with a passion!! I guess if you're a college student or if you grew-up here all your life and have friends it wouldn't be so bad but I've lived all over the country and I think this is the most UNFRIENDLY city I've lived in. Been here six years and have ONE friend. People are polite but there's a wall around most people I meet. I've even lived in NYC and I find that place to be MUCH more friendly!!
Saying that...I've lived in Chicago, too. Chicago is more honestly RUDE. I had a great church there so that made me happy. I also had more job opportunities at that time. (I think Boston stinks in that regard, too. If you want to work for a university or a hospital I suppose it's o.k.).
If I had to choose between NYC, Boston or Chicago (and that were my ONLY options) I'd take NYC. The rents aren't that much lower in Boston than New York. Or if you decide to move here, live in a nearby suburb of Boston; DON'T live in the city if you're going to move here!!

[TomDot]

Originally Posted by HisDaughter

I live outside of Boston now. I HATE Boston with a passion!! I guess if you're a college student or if you grew-up here all your life and have friends it wouldn't be so bad but I've lived all over the country and I think this is the most UNFRIENDLY city I've lived in. Been here six years and have ONE friend. People are polite but there's a wall around most people I meet. I've even lived in NYC and I find that place to be MUCH more friendly!!
Saying that...I've lived in Chicago, too. Chicago is more honestly RUDE. I had a great church there so that made me happy. I also had more job opportunities at that time. (I think Boston stinks in that regard, too. If you want to work for a university or a hospital I suppose it's o.k.).
If I had to choose between NYC, Boston or Chicago (and that were my ONLY options) I'd take NYC. The rents aren't that much lower in Boston than New York. Or if you decide to move here, live in a nearby suburb of Boston; DON'T live in the city if you're going to move here!!

You sound like fun!